New order about to take shape on Korean Peninsula: president

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and President Moon Jae-in shake hands before their meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 7. (Cheong Wa Dae)

By Kim Young Shin

“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the North helped create an atmosphere and conditions for a second U.S.-North Korea summit to be held at an early date,” said President Moon Jae-in during the weekly Cabinet meeting on Oct. 8. “A new order is about to take shape on the Korean Peninsula and this new order on the Peninsula will lead to a new order in Northeast Asia,” he said.

President Moon said, “Besides the second U.S.-North Korea summit, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un is expected to visit Russia and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s to visit North Korea in the near future. In addition, it is possible that a Japan-North Korea summit will be held.”

“Proactive efforts should be made for cooperation with other countries concerned besides the United States so that the last remaining Cold War rivalry on earth can be dissolved,” said Moon.

Previously on Oct. 7, President Moon met Pompeo after the secretary visited Pyeongyang.

According to Senior Secretary to the President Yoon Young-chan, Pompeo said that Chairman Kim and he had reached an agreement to hold a second U.S.-North Korea summit as soon as possible. He also said that the two sides had agreed to continue consultations to determine the date and venue.

Pompeo also said the two sides had agreed to form working-level negotiation teams to have consultations on North Korea’s denuclearization process and the schedule of a U.S.-North Korea summit at the earliest date possible.

The spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State Heather Nauert said on Oct. 7 that “Chairman Kim invited inspectors to visit the Punggye Ri nuclear test site to confirm that it has been irreversibly dismantled.”